A Heart of Gold
by Confound
Summary: This is a fanfiction about my Homestuck OTP, NepetaxKarkat. I plan to make it seeping with drama, so if you're into that, enjoy. Just a note: My arrows don't work on this website, so will replace them. Also, I know this isn't the most creative title, but it's 4am, give me a break. If I can think of something more fitting I'll change it. Though I think it's decent, considering.
1. Chapter 1

Your name is Nepeta Leijon.

You sit quietly in a corner of the lab with you head down, focused on playing with a loose string on the end of your sleeve. At the desk closest to you, sits the young troll Equius. He's frowning at his computer screen, whilst dabbing at his sweaty brow with a rag. From where you sit, you can see that he's talking to Aradia. When you were younger, you had found his obsession with Aradia ridiculous. It was amusing to watch her push him away, which only made him even more infatuated with her. Unfortunately, now that you've watched him do this periodically for three years, you've realized exactly what keeps Equius inspired. You find this odd fetish of his, well, odd.

There was a point in time when Equius's fussing made you jealous, but that was a long time ago. You're perfectly happy with being **moirals**, and you wouldn't be interested in anything more than that. Besides, you already have your **flushed quadrant** set on someone else.

Across the lab Terezi just so happened to be hassling that certain someone. This makes your heart ache. Terezi is one of your closest and most trusted friends, and she doesn't know about your feelings towards him, but still. It was clear that you both wanted the same thing; only she was closer to achieving her goal than you. You couldn't bring yourself to be cross with her, you just don't have the heart to. Of course, none of this calmed the smoldering jealousy as Terezi forcibly ran her tongue along Karkat's cheek. This made your claws itch, but you balled your hands into fists in an attempt to control them. You were delighted to see that this still freaked Karkat out. He jumped right out of his chair and began to yell obscenities whilst flailing his arms. Terezi stood there giggling, batting her eye lashes at him. Still, it was difficult for her to repress the hiss that rose in the back of her throat whenever Terezi touched him.

"Nepeta, what are you doing down there?" Equius asked. You looked up in surprise, to see him standing above you with his arms crossed.

"You were talking to Aradia, and I know how much you don't like me bothering you when you're talking to her, so I was waiting here." You say simply. After a moment you realize how ridiculous that sounds and look away in embarrassment. Some of the things you let out of your mouth make you upset with yourself, but you just can't help it. It just happens. Equius sighed and wiped the back of his hand against his forehead. You knew exactly what he was thinking. _"Nepeta, your blood may not be the same as mine, but you could at least try to show your class some pride." _You always seemed to do something that upset him. Though he'd stopped saying so a while ago, his eyes said it all.

"Accompany me while I retrieve some fresh towels?" He always made these statements sound like questions, though you knew he wasn't really asking you. It was simply expected that you do as he asked. This was probably for the best, you don't think you'd be able to control yourself if Terezi began trying to snog Karkat.

Equius strut across the room, to the teleportation pad while you trailed behind him. When he passed Aradia you couldn't help but giggle when she gave him a dirty look. He immediately began to sweat profusely and his pace towards the teleportation pad quickened. On the other side of the room Terezi was still harassing Karkat, who was as flushed as the **matesprit** quadrant itself. This made your chest hurt, and it was hard for you to breath. You could still see Karkats pain even when he was flushed, and it upset you that no one else could.

The teleportation pad takes you straight to the lowest floor, the basement. This is where you keep all of the supplies, along with the necessary abundance of towels.

For some reason, the towel closet is looking remarkably low on its specialty. With a groan Equius grabs some towels and trudges over to the **alchemizer**.

As Equius fiddles with the alchemizer you sit down on a stray chair and think about Terezi and Karkat. It would probably be best if they ended up together anyways. What can you really offer him? After everything that he's gone through, and has done to get you all here, you really don't have any special talents that could serve useful to him. True, you're very good at hunting, but what is there to hunt? That talent has lain useless for three years.

"Er, Nepeta." Equius's voice stirs you from your thoughts. You look over at him with wide eyes, not quite liking his tone. It's true that he normally speaks in a refined tone, but this one was usually reserved for very serious business. This was not the usual Nepeta-what-the-hell-are-you-doing tone.

"Yes?"

"You're not still hung up on the low blood, are you?" He looks at you questioningly from behind his cracked glasses. Immediately, you flush.

"You mean Karkat? O-of course not. That'd be silly." You say quickly, looking at the ground. Unfortunately, most trolls were quite aware of your feelings for Karkat, so it wasn't much of a surprise that Equius had brought this topic to the surface, though it was odd that he wanted to discuss this matter with you.

"Nep," You glance back up at him, surprised to see that he's moved closer to you. Immediately you fix your posture and blink up at him.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt." He says quietly. You are completely miffed. Never before has Equius ever opened up to you, or actually shown feelings towards you.

"I'm not going to get hurt." You say this as if it's completely obvious. This is of course, a lie.

"I'm an all-powerful huntress after all." You make a pawing motion at him. Equius frowns and fixes his glasses.

"Just, be careful." His noble form returns and he turns around to pick up his newly alchemized towels. It would appear that Equius was genuinely concerned about you. Of course this wasn't a total surprise, after all the two of you were moirals. Never the less, it's too much for you to repress the large smile that forms on your lips. In an uncontrollable fit of happiness, you pounce onto the unsuspecting Sagittarius's back.

Equius stumbles forward, caught off guard.

"Nepeta." He growls. You sling your arms over his shoulders.

"You're the best moiral anyone could ever have, Equius." You purr affectionately. Equius flushes lightly and begins to perspire. Before his sweat drenches you, you clamber off his back and pick up a pile of towels.

"And don't worry about me, I'll be fine." You say, smiling widely. Equius frowns from behind his glasses and pats at his forehead with a towel. Somehow you get the feeling he didn't quite trust your statement, but he's always been quite the skeptic.

Nepeta : Carry towels for your moiral. ==}


	2. Chapter 2

Nepeta : Carry towels for your moiral. ==}

The two of you return to the lab. Upon your arrival, you immediately take note that Terezi had left, along with quite a few others. Karkat himself was no longer at his desk. Only Sollux and Feferi remained, sitting in the horn pile. Equius frowns, but continues over to his desk. You follow behind him, glancing at the couple. You find it wondrous that they had found happiness together so quickly, and so easily. You're happy for them.

Equius places his pile of towels down at his desk, and then turns to face you. He takes your towels.

"The rest can come back to my **respiteblock**. Would you accompany me?" You nod and he leads the way back to the teleportation pad.

You cast a backwards glance towards Sollux and Feferi , privately wondering if you'll be able to find happiness like that. Or rather, with whom? Who could you possibly find interest in on this meteor. There were eleven other trolls besides yourself, two of them obviously entertained with each other. Leaving nine. You didn't really like the idea of being attached to another female troll. The thought of you being paired with Terezi makes you scrunch your nose in distaste. That left five. Equius was obviously out of bounds, and you don't really fancy the idea of being with Eridan, in fact you had already turned him down when he asked you to be his matesprit in a fit of desperation. Maybe it wasn't right of you to turn him down, but what high blood would _actually_ be interested? You guess there was always Gamzee.

This thought brought you to a physical halt in front of the teleportation pad. Equius continued on without noticing.

_Gamzee?_ You ask in your head. The thought of Gamzee being in a flushed quadrant other than moirals was humorous. Gamzee wasn't even interested in that kind of a relationship. After quickly, mentally crossing Gamzee off as an option you rush through the teleportation pad.

Equius is waiting in front of the teleportation pad, frowning. You give him a wide grin and wait patiently for him to proceed. With a sigh, he continues down the hall in the direction of his respiteblock.

That would leave Tavros and Karkat. Well, with the low possibility of Eridan. Actually, your chances with either three of them were rather low. Tavros would be too polite to reject you out right, but he wouldn't really be interested. Besides, you didn't care to meddle with Vriska's potential matesprit. It would be best if you and Tavros kept to being role play partners.

Eridan and Karkat. These are your two options. You could continue to chase after Karkat, but that would probably end in heartache. It would only take a few short conversations with Eridan to prompt him to ask you again. Was Eridan really worth the trouble though? He was only desperate because he was trying to make Feferi jealous.

A fresh fish is tossed into your **think pan**. Immediately, you understand Eridan's desperation. Maybe the two of you could work together with this. He wasn't the most tasteful person in your opinion, but you both had common goals. Perhaps, you could somehow make Karkat jealous?

Unfortunately these thoughts become disrupt as you run smack into something hard and wet. You hadn't been watching where you were going, and had just turned the corner towards Equius's Respiteblock. Looking up, you realize this large, hard and wet surface is Equius's back. He's perspiring ridiculously in one spot, staring straight ahead. With a frown you press up on your tippy toes, trying to see over his shoulders. This is of course futile, so you just look around him.

Aradia is leaning against the wall beside his door. She looks over at Equius with a coy smile. This is indeed very odd. You try to wrap your head around what's happening.

Aradia is smiling

She's waiting outside Equius's room

You frown and look up at Equius, who too seems unable to grasp the situation. His mouth is gaping like a fish. Apparently, his reaction flatters Aradia and she tosses her hair.

"You're going to keep a lady waiting? What kind of a gentleman are you." She says coolly. You look back and forth between the two of them, waiting for Equius to reply. Did they have a date?

"I-I," It takes a moment for Equius to regain his posture.

"I'm waiting." Aradia says, obviously playing with him. Equius straightens his back and walks towards the door.

"Of course, I apologize for the wait, I hope it wasn't long." He says as he opens his door. You stand at the end of the hall, confounded. Now you're the one with your jaw dropped. As Aradia follows him into his respite block she gives you a wink, before shutting the door.

The world- er meteor, has officially turned upside down. What the hell. What the actual HELL.

You stand in the middle of the hall, unable to grasp what has happened. After a few moments you decide it's best to not think about it, and simply ask Equius about it tomorrow. In the meantime, you should focus on finding Eridan, you just hope he isn't asleep yet.

The order the respiteblocks are arranged is by blood colour, so you don't have to walk very far to find him. Much to Karkat's dismay (but no one else's) his respite block was placed at the very beginning of the hall. For some reason he didn't think anyone knew his blood colour. It was possibly the worst kept secret in the history of horribly kept secrets.

Hesitantly, you raise a hand to knock on Eridan's door. Maybe this wasn't the best idea, what if it didn't work? You'd have a heart broken fish on your paws. It takes all your courage to rasp your hand lightly on his door three times.

Almost immediately, the door is thrown open. Behind it is an out of breath, pajamafied Eridan. His hair is sticking up in odd places, and his cape flutters over his pale gray chest and fish themed shorts.

"Nepeta?" He asks in slight, hopeful surprise. You smile lightly and sway back and forth on your feet, your hands behind your back.

"Did I wake you?" Eridan quickly shakes his head.

"No no, of course not. Would you like to come in?" He asks desperately, stepping aside. You smile at him and enter the room.

Nepeta : Enter respiteblock. ==}


	3. Chapter 3

Nepeta : Enter respiteblock. ==}

Eridan's respiteblock was very different from your own.

For one thing, it had a different layout completely. You had assumed that since they were built in a rush, they all had the same basic structure. Your respiteblock was plain, consisting of one room. All you had was a **bed**, a dresser, your shipping chart and a small bathroom. Eridan's' respiteblock on the other hand, was basically a hive. The main room was very large, with an archway leading to a quaint eating area. There were two doors leading to places concealed, and a closet. The main room was where he slept, holding a ridiculously large bed covered in many throw pillows, a dresser, couch, coffee table, desk, a large pile of loot and a small side table holding a fish themed tea pot with matching cups.

You weren't surprised to see that he too had taken a liking to the human 'bed'. It was a rather odd contraption, much like a couch. The John human had first introduced it to Karkat with an alchemizer code, and it soon became a trend. You're pretty sure everyone has them, they are after all, quite comfortable.

Eridan takes note of you gawking at his room and smiles, shutting the door.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" He asks, walking over towards the small side table. You nod and wander in a little further. Behind the couch you find a large stash of wands.

"I thought magic wasn't real?" You poke teasingly at him. He blushes lightly and ushers you over to the couch. Once you are seated, he hands you a cup of tea.

"So what brings you here, at this late hour?" He asks, taking a seat beside you. The cup of tea is warm in your hands. You think of a small excuse, still not sure if you should actually conspire with him or use him.

"I couldn't sleep." You say, taking a sip of your tea. Eridan's expression brightens.

"I hope I'm not intruding." You add quickly, looking at him with a worried expression. He waves his hand dismissively and shakes his head.

"Oh no, of course not. I couldn't sleep myself." He sets his tea down with a pause.

"Why'd you choose to come here instead of visiting Equius?" The tone he uses implies something. Your plan appears to be working.

"Actually, that's an interesting story." You say, also setting your tea down.

"If you'll believe it, earlier on in the evening Aradia was waiting for Equius outside his respiteblock." Eridan's jaw drops a little in shock.

"No way." He exclaims, enjoying this juicy gossip.

"Yes way. It's odd, isn't it? I'll ask Equius about it tomorrow."

"You don't think she's actually into that weird fetish of his, do you?" He asks with slight distaste. You giggle and shake your head.

"I doubt it. Maybe, matespritships just appear in unlikely places, with unlikely couples." You say, trying to lay on hints. Eridan looks distant for a moment, deep in thought.

"Maybe." He says after a while, glancing at you. Hesitantly you smile, not quite sure if he gets what you're trying to say.

"It did take them a while though." He comments. Irritation pricks at you, he'd totally missed the point.

"I suppose so, but some things do take time." You sigh, picking up your cup of tea for another sip. Eridan looks at you, once more lost in thought. Feeling as if your plan has gone awry, you quickly finish your cup of tea. How could Eridan be so thick? Could you have possibly lucked out and have come to him on a day he wasn't desperate? He seemed interested enough when he answered the door. Perhaps you had said something to set him off.

"Indeed they do." He mumbles quietly as you set down your tea cup. You blink forward in irritation and stand.

"I should probably head back to my respiteblock, I'm getting tired." You say quickly, beginning to head towards the door. Eridan jumps up immediately.

"You could sleep here if you'd like." He says quickly. You look back at him in shock. Those weren't the kinds of hints you had been dropping. This suggestion was a little forward, even for Eridan.

"Um." You begin, not quite sure how to address that offer. Regardless if he meant what you thought he did, Equius would kill you if he saw you leaving his room in the morning.

"I mean, I get if you'd be uncomfortable with that. But come on, five people could sleep in that bed without touching each other." Eridan flushes profusely and looks for words.

"I don't mean touch each other as in _ touch _each other touch each other, I just mean there's enough space for us to never-" You walk up to him and take hold of his cheeks, staring at him with large eyes. He stops his stuttering and continues to blush dark shades of violet.

"I can't sleep here, but you could walk me to my block if you'd like." You offer, letting go of his face after he calms down. It takes a moment for him to regain his composure. Once he does he straightens his cape.

"Alright." He says, determined. With relief, you realize you've got him right where you want him. Eridan walks over to the door and holds it open for you.

The two of you walk down the hall, past Equius's block. There wasn't any sign of either Aradia or Equius. You still weren't quite sure what to make of that. Personally, you didn't think that they were actually matesprits. Equius had looked very surprised to see Aradia standing there, and if he had known she'd be waiting he probably wouldn't have asked you to accompany him back to his room. That situation was still all very confusing.

You sigh quietly, giving his door a forlorn expression as you pass. Eridan fiddles his thumbs as he tries to think of something to talk about.

"So, uh, what do you think of the humans coming here?" He asks. You perk up a little to this question, you hadn't been aware that they had even finished their session.

"I didn't know they were coming here." You say, looking at him.

"When was that decided?"

"Oh." He blinks at you in surprise.

"It was decided a while ago, actually." Eridan says, seeming uncomfortable with the fact that no one had told you.

"Karkat decided this?" You ask, getting very annoyed. Eridan nods.

"What a great leader, making sure everyone knows about this update." You growl quietly. By now you two have reached your respiteblock. You're absolutely furious with Karkat. Angrily you open your door and slam it behind you, mumbling a small goodnight.

Nepeta : Go ahead. Be distressed. ==}


	4. Chapter 4

Nepeta : Go ahead. Be distressed. ==}

You stand behind your shut door, fists clenched. Usually you aren't one to get angry over small things, or get angry in general, but for some reason this has made you furious. Karkat was the leader, and he had failed to pass this message on. Did he think you were too stupid to care about the human's arrival? Was he really that judgemental? You weren't a child. This is something you should've known about. What was wrong with him.

Across the room your laptop blinks underneath a blanket. Still worked up in a fit of fury, you climb onto your bed and retrieve it from its cave of comforters. As you wait for it to load, you change into your pj's. You were going to give Karkat a piece of your mind. Some leader he turned out to be. Wouldn't it be important for _everyone_ to know that the humans were coming? What the hell.

You quickly throw on a large shirt and paw print pajama shorts. Your computer beeps several times as messages pour in from **trollian**. You sit cross legged on the end of your bed and stare at the blinking tabs bar. Apparently you forgot to log off. You have messages from Tavros, Equius, Aradia and an update from one of Karkat's useless memos.

apocalypseArisen [ AA ] began pestering arsenicCatnip [AC ]

AA : nepeta

AA : are y0u there

AA : 0_0

AA : i guess y0u just f0rg0t t0 l0g 0ff

apocalypseArisen [ AA ] ceased pestering arsenicCatnip [ AC ]

adiosToreador began pestering arsenicCatnip [ AC ]

AT : hEY NEPETA,

AT : i WAS WONDERING, iF I COULD ASK YOU ABOUT SOMETHING,

AT : rEGARDING VRISKA,

AT : bECAUSE, i'M A LITTLE CONFUSED, aS TO WHERE OUR RELATIONSHIP IS GOING,

AT : bUT I GUESS, yOU AREN'T AT YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW,

AT : sO IT CAN WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW, i GUESS,

adiosToreador ceased pestering arsenicCatnip [AC ]

centaursTesticle [ CT ] began pestering arsenicCatnip [ AC ]

CT : D-} It was a trap

centaursTesticle [ CT ] ceased pestering arsenicCatnip [ AC ]

None of this really interests you, especially in your current state of rage. You'll get back to all of them tomorrow. In the meantime, you should give Karkat a piece of your mind. Luckily, he's online. Unfortunately for him, when you click on his name it brings up recent chat history, showing how rude and incautious he's been to you. This just fuels your anger. However, you try to control your urges to flat out scream at him in all caps, and confront him in a polite and calm manner.

arsenicCatnip [ AC ] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [ CG ]

AC : :33 *saunters up to Karkat, unsure of how to begin*

AC : um karkat * ac begins uneasily *

CG : OH MY GOD WHAT IS IT NOW.

CG : I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR ANY OF YOUR ROLE PLAY GARBAGE, NEPETA.

His basic reaction irks you. Fine. No polite Nepeta for him.

AC : alright then.

AC : why didn't you tell everyone that the humans were coming?

CG : I DID.

AC : so I'm excluded from the general consensus of 'everybody'?

CG : I ASSUMED EQUIUS WOULD TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, SINCE HE KNEW AND YOU FOLLOW HIM AROUND SO MUCH.

AC : well he didn't.

CG : WHY ARE YOU TALKING SO COLDLY, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING. WHAT THE HELL.

AC : that's exactly what the problem is. you didn't make sure everyone knew about the humans, which by the way, is assumedly the duty of a leader.

CG : UGH.

AC : so karkat, when are the humans coming?

CG : NOT FOR A WHILE.

CG : WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE, YOU DON'T TALK TO ANY OF THEM.

AC : WHETHER I TALK TO THE HUMANS OR NOT IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

AC : AS OUR "OH SO HIGH AND MIGHTY" LEADER YOU SHOULD'VE MADE SURE THAT WE WERE ALL AWARE.

AC : AND YOU ABSURD POMPUS, JUST FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I DO TALK TO THE HUMANS.

AC : DID YOU JUST ASSUME I WOULDN'T HAVE THE ATTENTION SPAN TO LISTEN OR CARE? THE HUMANS COMING HERE IS KIND OF A BIG FUCKING DEAL YOU ASSHOLE.

AC : IT'S A WONDER HOW EVERYONE PUTS UP WITH YOU'RE ANIMOSITY.

AC : BUT THANKS FOR THE FUCKING HEADS UP YOU SHITHEAD.

arsenicCatnip [ AC ] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [ CG ]

arsenicCatnip [ AC ] is no longer available

CG : WHAT JUST HAPPENED.

Your laptop smashes against the wall. You're beyond furious. You're in a mixture of extreme rage, sadness and agony. Why was he so mean. You didn't take delight in yelling at people, or insulting them, but he definitely deserved it. He was such an ass, you're absolutely fed up with him.

Unknowingly, tears flow down your cheeks as you get up from your bed to approach your shipping wall. You grab a bottle of paint from your dresser and stand in front of the matesprit square holding Karkat and yourself. ( Equius insisted that you switch to using paint, as he found your painting with blood a little sadistic. Besides, there weren't any animals to slaughter. )

You hold the bottle upside down and pour a large amount of black paint into your hand. Without a pause, you press your hand against Karkat's face and smear it all over the quadrant. Once it's completely covered in paint, you proceed to cover the moiral and **auspisticism** quadrants containing the two of you as well. What could you have possibly been feeling, there's no way you could care about that ass hole. Sure, maybe as a friend, but he didn't deserve even that. When had he ever treated you like a friend? You're done wasting your time with him, you should've listened to Equius in the beginning. Obviously, your ancestor was more patient then you are, how could she have possibly but up with him. Or maybe, Karkat's ancestor was just in general a nicer guy? Either way, it didn't matter. You're done with him.

After you wipe your hands off hastily with a rag, you crawl into bed, throwing your blankets over your head. You want to crawl into a hole and never come out. You're such a fool for caring about him. He has never once offered you affection, he isn't worth your time. You quietly wish Pounce De Leon were here to comfort you, but since you're without his company you simply decide to go to sleep, and hope things will look different tomorrow.

Nepeta : Wake up. ==}


	5. Chapter 5

Nepeta : Wake up. ==}

A loud knocking on your door slowly brings you back to consciousness. You sleepily emerge from beneath your blankets and stretch, yawning loudly. The harsh rasping continues, and you sigh, slightly annoyed.

"I'm coming!" You call in irritation and stumble out of bed. What time was it? It felt way too early for this kind of ruckus. Regardless of your call, the hammering continues.

You trip over your blankets as you rush towards the door and stumble in the process, hitting the door with a loud smack. A growl escapes you as you throw open the door.

Equius stands in the door way, holding a rugged Eridan by the cape. Eridan looks absolutely terrified, and from the expression on Equius's face you could tell he'd been picking on him. This was a little unusual, seeing as Equius normally steers clear of those with a higher blood colour than his own.

"Why was _this_ sleeping outside your room?" Equius demands. You blink at him in surprise. You'd completely forgotten that you'd shut the door so harshly on him. Actually, you hadn't given him much thought until now. It was just assumed that he'd wander back to his room.

"Nep was really upset last night, I wanted to make sure she was okay." Eridan says, trying to escape the grasp of Equius. With a look of distaste Equius releases him and turns to you.

"Were you?" He asks. You get a chill and suddenly wish Eridan hadn't have said anything. Now you'll have to explain everything to Equius.

"Yeah, it was because no one told her about the humans." Eridan chimes, straightening his cape. Equius clenches his teeth and glares sideways at him.

"Go put on some clothes." He growls. For a moment, Eridan looks as if he'll retort, but obviously thinks better of it. He turns to you and gives you a bow.

"I'm glad to see you're feeling better." He says with a small smile before walking off down the hall.

Equius sighs and looks at you with a pained expression. You walk away from the door to make your bed, silently inviting him inside. He shuts the door behind himself and walks over to your bed to take a seat. You quietly sit beside him and pick at your thumb. Until now, you hadn't noticed the huge mess you made. Your computer lay in pieces in a corner of you room, and there was black paint everywhere. There were still traces of it on your hands and forearms. You really should have put some thought into cleaning up. With a sigh, Equius finally turns to you.

"Have a rough night?" He asks. You bite your lip and give a small nod.

"Would you feel better if you talked about it?" He offers, worry weaseling its way into his voice.

"Not especially, no." Your response makes him sigh again. He rubs his forehead tiredly. Now that you've noticed, he does look rather tired.

"What about you? It doesn't look as if you've had much sleep." You say, trying to take the spotlight off yourself. Equius lets out a less than characteristic groan and falls back onto the bed.

"Aradia, is a she demon." He says bluntly, covering his face with his hands. You frown quizzically at him, wondering what he meant. In all the time you've known Aradia, sure she had been a little odd, but not in a way much different than yourself. Personally, you'd always been fond of her.

"What happened last night?" You ask hesitantly, not quite sure if you want to know. Equius shakes his head.

"That's not something you want to hear about." Equius promises. You're suddenly very uncomfortable. Just what had happened between the two of them? That, probably _was_ something you didn`t want to hear about. You decide not to push it, also worrying that the subject may cause him to sweat all over your bed. Wearily, you glance over at the remains of your computer. With a sigh, you stand and rest your hands on your hips.

"Well then, shall we find something to eat?"

The two of you leave your respiteblock, and head down the hallway. A small room at the end of the hall serves as an eatery. It wasn't much to look at, but then again not much was on the meteor. There were several **appearifiers** and makers of sorts, pushed up against the walls, along with a couple fridges and cabinets. In the center of the room were three tables, each holding four chairs. They were all quite flimsy, and you were privately worried that if you sat on one it'd break. Equius and you normally just ate in the lab, or in your rooms.

When you arrive at the eatery, only Gamzee and Tavros are there. It was very rare that all twelve of you could be found in the same location. This of course, drove Karkat insane.

Gamzee looks up from where he's rummaging through a fridge and waves. Equius begins to perspire. For whatever reason, Gamzee made Equius nervous. You think Gamzee is sort of like a gentle giant, but Equius has warned you on many occasions not to bother the high blood. Tavros smiles from where he's sitting, not brave enough to manage a hello in Equius's presence.

"Has anyone else noticed our shortage of sopor pie?" Gamzee asks. Tavros looks at him with curiosity.

"Well, Gamzee you do eat a lot of it." He mumbles quietly. Gamzee chuckles and shuts the fridge door, then proceeds to take a seat beside Tavros.

"That I do man, that I do." Gamzee sighs and takes a sip from a bottle of Faygo sitting on the table.

"It would take a motherfuckin' miracle to find a new source of sopor though." He says sadly, staring into his bottle. Equius ignores their rabble and continues over to one of the food making machines. You aren't really sure how they work, but Equius knows. He usually gets your food for you.

"Hey, um Nepeta." You perk up a little and walk across the room to join Tavros. He blushes profusely and looks at the table.

"Ugh, I was wondering if I could talk to you later." He says quietly, glancing at you. Right, he wanted to talk about Vriskers. You give him a nod and smile.

"Yeah of course, I'll be in the lab probably. Sorry about yesterday, I forgot to log off." You rub the back of your head in slight embarrassment. Tavros smiles and opens his mouth to say something else, but is interrupted by Equius.

"Nepeta, we're leaving." He calls assertively from across the room. Tavros flinches at his voice. You sigh quietly and wave to the two trolls as you leave. Equius had a knack for interloping at the most inconvenient of times.

Outside the eatery he gives you a plate of grilled fish. It smelled delicious. Contrary to what the others said, you thought the machine made food tasted pretty good. Not as good as a fresh kill, but close.

"I have to go back to my block for a while, but I'll meet you in the lab this evening." Equius says before departing. You sigh. Great, alone once again. You begrudgingly walk down the hall to the teleportation pad.

Nepeta : Travel to the lab. ==}


	6. Chapter 6

Nepeta : Travel to the lab. ==}

After safely **captcha logging** your tray of smoked fish, you head down the hall towards the teleportation pad. What could possibly be occupying Equius? Probably his latest **Aradia bot**, or some other robot. You really didn't feel the need to give it much thought. Though, you were still a little curious about what had happened between Aradia and him.

Surprisingly, the lab is very full today. At least six other people are here. Huh. This of course includes the ever present Karkat, Sollux, Feferi, Aradia, Vriska and Eridan. Interestingly enough, Terezi doesn't seem to be bothering with Karkat today. Whatever, you _really_ don't care.

As soon as you enter the lab, Eridan runs across the room to greet you, getting the attention of everyone he passes. This surprises you a little, considering the beating Equius had given him earlier. He comes to a squeaking halt in front of you, a smile spread wide across his face.

"Hey Nep." He says cheerfully. You give him a smile.

"Hi." A little nervous about your interaction with him drawing the attention of everyone present, you start to walk over to your computer. Eridan walks beside you, fixing his scarf.

"Are you alright? Like, you seemed really upset last night." He says as he grabs a spare chair and pulls it up beside yours. You pause for a moment, remembering your conversation with Karkat.

"I'm fine, the whole human thing just caught me off guard." You say with a smile, attempting to reassure him. While your computer loads, you take out your smoked fish from your **sylladex** and take a bite. It really was delicious. Beside you, Eridan sighs, sounding relieved. He was kind of gullible.

Across the room there's a loud screech as a chair is pushed back against the hard cement. You perk your ears attentively. This lab was horribly designed. Metal chairs against concrete? Good job. It also got ridiculously cold at night, due to poor insulation. Some people are just so incapable when it comes to designing things. Thoughtlessly, you take another bite of fish.

Your computer lights up and trollian's log in quickly pops up. You grimace as you type in your pass word, "karkitty". Once you're logged in your quickly change it to something simple, and less desperate. "smoked fish".

Behind you, someone clears their throat. You lean back in your chair, looking up; expecting to see Equius. A pissed off looking Karkat stares down at you with distain.

Immediately, you sit forward and turn to face him properly, slightly embarrassed. He looks a little flushed in the face, and glances at Eridan who had been looking at him with irritation.

"What do you want, low blood?" He snaps. Karkat grinds his teeth, not enjoying being around the Prince of Hope.

"It certainly isn't being interrupted by your fish faced trap." He barks. Eridan narrows his eyes.

"We're busy, you filthy land dweller. Bother us some other time." Eridan retorts. This quickly grows old for you, and you sigh. While the two of them are at each other's throat you take a moment to eat some more fish. You're famished. The two continue growling at each other, not noticing you are inattentive.

"In case you haven't noticed, your latest infatuation is a land dweller, ass hole." Says Karkat sharply. Eridan opens his mouth to say something, but Karkat beats him to it.

"I don't have time to deal with you right now Ampora, it sucks that I'm interrupting your courtess, but you'll have to get over it." This catches your attention, and you are once more enraged. His presence alone had somewhat irritated you, but his comment about the courtess was uncalled for. Karkat opens his mouth as he turns to you, ready to go on about whatever garbage, but hesitates when he sees you glaring at him.

"What do you want?" You say in a flat tone, trying to control yourself. The scent of your smoked fish fills your nostrils as it sits on your desk, growing colder with every passing second Karkat wastes.

"Eridan was right, we are busy. So if you would be so kind as to hurry your ass up." You say aggressively. From the corner of your eye you notice Feferi and Sollux watching your encounter from the horn pile. Vriska and Aradia also appear to be very unsubtly listening in. You're suddenly very self-conscious and begin to flush. Why did he have to cause a scene? Karkat swallows hard and opens his mouth once more, now nervous from the watching eyes. He quickly decides better of it and clenches his fists.

"Never mind." He mumbles and turns away hastily, almost sprinting towards the teleportation pad. Everyone turns their attention back to whatever it was they had been doing previously. All of that fuss for nothing? Now your fish is cold. Damn him.

"He's such a bother." Eridan says, glancing at you. You sigh and silently agree with him, turning back to your computer. To your surprise, it's blinking with several messages. Apparently all the girls on the asteroid have a reason to talk to you. Er, all the girls and Sollux.

apocalypseArisen [ AA ] began pestering arsenicCatnip [ AC ]

AA : whats happening 0_0

AA : with you and Eridan

AA : and karkat for that mater

arachnidsGrip [ AG ] began pestering arsenicCatnip [ AC ]

AG : You and Eridan huh? :::;)

cuttlefishCuller [ CC ] began pestering arsenicCatnip [ AC ]

CC : Nepeta w)(at is )(appening

CC : GLUB

CC : You and –Eridan? 38O

twinArmageddons [ TA ] began pestering arsenicCatnip [ AC ]

TA : nepeta

TA : ii thiink you miight have broken karkat

TA : ju2t 2ayiing

Your jaw drops in a rather not-attractive manner as you look over all the messages. It didn't occur to you that this would be a major drama. Why did everyone have to be so meddling? They could all be such gossip grubs sometimes.

You take a moment to stop glowering at your computer to look over at Eridan, who is looking mournfully at your now very cold smoked fish. What could you tell them? You really weren't all that _into_ Eridan, nor especially Karkat at the moment. It wasn't like you were actually in a relationship with either of them anyways. You suppose you could just say it's complicated. That would keep them at bay for a short time.

Nepeta : Be complicated. ==}


	7. Chapter 7

Nepeta : Be complicated. ==}

You quickly copy and paste the same message to everyone, before logging off of Trollian. The computer begins to power down and you look over at Eridan with a sigh. This isn't something you really wanted to think about now. Actually, you really just wanted some time alone to think about everything. Eridan eventually notices you staring at him and blinks at you with curious eyes. You give him a smile and glance towards the teleportation pad.

"I need to go meet Equius." This of course, is a lie. However, as soon as you say this you see Eridan's face grow pale. He was never really a fan of Equius, and putting this mornings' encounter into the mix, you didn't think he would try to follow you if you were going to meet him.

"O-oh. Okay." He says swallowing hard. You give him a smile and stand up.

"I'll see you later though, promise." With another winning smile, you turn and dash towards the teleportation pad, not being able to bear being in that room a moment longer. There were too many questions to be asked, and too few answers to be given. You didn't want to deal with this drama right now.

Back in your respiteblock, a mournful sight awaits you. You crouch in front of your broken laptop, frowning. To be honest, you didn't think you had thrown it that hard. It pains you to admit that you had somehow thought it may have been repairable. Carefully, you pick up the keyboard and turn it over in your hands. The keys pop out of their sockets and click against the rest of the rubble in metallic harmony. Not even Equius could fix this, you'd be lucky if he could salvage the remains for scrap metal. Now you're going to have to alchemize a new one. Unfortunately, you won't have Equius to help you with the alchemizer. This is going to be a pain.

Before you leave your room, you figure it's worth a try to check the drawers of your dresser for a spare laptop. Although it's unlikely that there'll actually be one, you might as well. However after a few minutes of sifting through your drawers, you see that the effort was futile. On the bright side, you did end up finding your blue kitty hat. You'd lost it months ago, what was it doing in this drawer?

After quickly equipping your adorable blue knit, you head out your door. Due to an impulsive urge, you've decided to take the stairs to the basement. It's fair to say that not many people use them. Actually, you're pretty sure you and Terezi are the only ones who do. You saw her going down them once, dragging a scalemate with a noose around its neck with her.

You think the reason no one used the stairs was because they lacked lights, or anything to illuminate their passage ways. This was the fault of a certain nubby horned fool you'd recently come to loathe. Seriously, if he's always so cautious and scared of being trapped, why wouldn't he have thought out the basic layout of the stairs? Idiot.

The large metal door to the stairwell creaks open, light from the open door casts long shadows across the banister. When you had first arrived here, coming here alone used to scare you. It was just so eerie and generally creepy, you tried to steer clear of it. There were a few times over the course of the past three years where you'd use them as a hiding spot from Equius when you'd play hide and go seek, and what an excellent hiding spot it was. He never even thought to look in the stairwell. In this instant it also served as a sort of hiding spot; seeing as you were trying to stay away from the other inhabitants of the meteor, and no one ever used the stairs.

Behind you, the door shuts closed with a click, which echoes throughout the caverns of the staircase. In the darkness you stumble over to the banister and begin to make your way down to the basement. This was all such a pain, having to alchemize a new computer. You aren't even sure if you'll be able to remember how to use the alchemizer. You're sure if you fiddle around with it for long enough you'll figure it out eventually.

A small drip echoes somewhere behind you. Immediately, you freeze. While there was of course nothing to be afraid of, your instincts begin to pull at your nerves. You couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary, it was probably just moisture build up somewhere. _Moisture on a meteor?_ The thought pricks your think pan. Hesitantly, you begin to shuffle down the steps again, at a quicker pace. You still weren't scared of course, oh no, not Nepeta Leijon. You won't be scared by a little noise and complete, utter darkness.

Your hold on the banister is tested as you stumble over something long and round. Unfortunately, you hadn't had much of a grip on the railing, and you tumble down to the next platform, an unseen mass cushions your fall. Sort of.

Pain shoots up your left leg, the feeling mixing with the adrenaline rush caused by your fear. The dripping sound returns, growing faster. Whatever you landed on is fleshy and damp, adding to your anxiety. Your entire body tenses, getting ready to run to the door just one more platform down. As you stare into the darkness behind you, the dripping stops. You take a deep breath and sigh, awaiting the wave of relief that will surely pass over you.

A gurgling sound from the mass you perch on top postpones the relief, and brings a small yelp to rise from your mouth. Without another moment's hesitation, you bolt down the rest of the stairs, stumbling and slipping on whatever wet substance now covers your boots. The basement door is outlined by a small white line, where the light seeps through. You throw the metal door open, this sharp movement causing the door to moan in protest. In a fluent motion you slam the door, bolting it shut behind you.

You're terrified, and breathing heavily. All at once you feel so foolish, running from ghosts in the darkness. What a little grub you've turned out to be. With a sigh you swipe your bangs away from your eyes and cover your mouth. You slump against the door, trying to calm yourself down. A bright side to this situation, you suppose, would be the fact that no one saw you. Or heard you cry out like a ninny.

There's a dry cough somewhere to your right. Still freaked out, you jump to your feet, equipping your claws. After giving the basement a quick look around, it is to your great displeasure that you find Karkat sitting on a couch, staring at you from behind a laptop.

Nepeta : Be Inspected. ==}


End file.
